Budget Binge

For the month of June I experimented with a "Budget Binge" to see exactly how much money I could save in one month.  Being out in the "big girl world" and paying all those big kid bills can be quite overwhelming and it's not hard to fall behind.  I pride myself on the fact that my parents raised me to save money - so not only have I had the luxury of buying things that I want, but I also have a savings account that would allow me to buy a house at age 24.

Having said all that, I have had several friends ask for budgeting advice.  I am in now way a finance expert - taking the minimum requirement in college, but I do spend at least a few minutes every day budgeting.  From my experience, I allow myself enough in my budget to save money, have a social life and afford bills and the unnecessary clothing and entertainment expenses of a 24 year old ;).

Budget Binge Strategy:

• DO NOT go out to eat.  I bought everything at the grocery store and cooked every meal.  Which was also fun for trying new recipes!
• No shopping, whatsoever.  Do not even go into any store.  The only unecessary "thing" that I bought this month was my dad's father's day present, and birthday presents for my niece and nephew.

It was as simple as that.  I still had the expenses like dog food, dry cleaning, gas, travel expenses to my cousin's wedding, etc and I still SAVED $492.57.  But....

You know how people say to always have an emergency fund?  Listen to them.  Everything was going great with the budget.  And then wham-bam-thank-you-maam, my car won't start.  Yep, that's right - the emergency funds came in handy because it cost about $200 to get that all fixed.  So ladies and gentleman, prepare for the worst and keep an emergency fund.  I've heard that this should be about 1/3 of your annual salary.  That's in case of worse case scenario: lose your job, illness, etc.

Here's a skeleton budget that you can use for yourself, nothing fancy, just the basics!  (Mine is saved in Excel so it's easy to add, subtract, etc.)

	Health/Beauty			Dining Out			Total
	$$$	Description		$$$	Description		Health/Beauty		0
							Dining Out		0
							Car/Gas		0
							Clothing/Other		0
							Enterainment		0
							Gifts/Donations		0
							Groceries		0
							Travel		0
							Bills		0
							Samson		0
	Car/Gas			Clothing			TOTAL		0
	$$$	Description		$$$	Description
	Entertainment			Gifts/Donations
	$$$	Description		$$$	Description
	Groceries			Travel
	$$$	Description		$$$	Description
	0			0
	Bills			Samson
power	$$$			$$$	Description
Rent
Alagasco
water
cable
Gym
Other